2014 California budget and active transportation

For this 2013 budget, California Governor Jerry Brown proposes a consolidation of several bicycle and pedestrians programs into a single budgetary bucket called the Active Transportation Program (ATP). Several advocacy groups have issued petitions to ensure funding for bicycle programs remain at current levels.

Brown proposes the consolidation of five existing programs — Transportation Alternatives Program, the Recreational Trails program (which funds things like hiking and mountain bike trails), Safe Routes to Schools, Environmental Enhancement and Mitigation Program, and the Bicycle Transportation Account — into a single Active Transportation Program administered by the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency.

Currently, projects are eligible for grants under several programs, and project sponsors often find it necessary to submit multiple applications for the same project. According to the Governor’s office, the new consolidated Active Transportation Program will streamline this process and fund high‑priority projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions consistent with the objectives of Chapter 728, Statutes of 2008 (SB 375), as well as provide safety benefits. Brown’s 2014 budget proposes $134.2M for this program, which is 92% of last year’s level of funding for the programs the ATP will replace.

What does this mean specifically? The Recreational Trails Program administered by the California Department of Parks and Recreation will go away. Mountain bikers and hikers must compete with Safe Routes programs for grants from the same pot of money. If Steinberg’s SB375 greenhouse emissions law is used to decide on who receives funding, I think mountain bikers and IMBA might be the big loser here.

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Hi Richard- Thanks for sharing this news! Just to clarify, all four petitions you refer to are one and the same if you read the text and look carefully at the logos on each. The CalBike, SRTS, and PFB pages also list the lead orgs on the petition at the end of each page. Thanks for encouraging Californians to sign!

So essentially these advocacy groups are asking for set-asides within the ATP funding pot that would totally negate Brown’s consolidation reform. I totally disagree with this siloed approach to funding. These projects should compete against each other on their own merits.